Dear Desperate,
We don’t provide extermination advice. You can try hand picking the Dogwood Sawfly Larvae, Macremphytus tarsatus, but we don’t believe you need to worry about your dogwood surviving. Loosing its leaves this season will not weaken your plant, however, you will be deprived of the lovely autumn display of the dogwood’s change to red this year. Populations of plant feeding insects tend to come in cycles. You might find some helpful information on the Penn State Woody Ornamental Integrated Pest Management sheet or the IPM of Midwest Landscapes sheet.

Subject: What are these things
Location: MD
August 30, 2013 3:10 pm
Okay these 2 are definitely we think matting but what are they. These were seen in MD on a wooden swing.. if that is any help. Thank you,
Signature: Edie

Red Footed Cannibalflies Mating

Dear Edie,
These are mating Giant Robber Flies in the genus Promachus, and we believe they might be Red Footed Cannibalflies or Bee Panthers, Promachus rufipes. We are not entomologists and there is not enough detail in your photographs to be certain, but we believe based on the markings, our identification is most likely correct. You can compare your photos to those posted to BugGuide which reports: “Preys on large flying insects. Has been reported to attack Ruby-throated Hummingbirds” with a link to the Hilton Pond Center website.

Subject: Name This Bug
Location: Navarre, Fl
August 30, 2013 3:37 pm
I found this critter on my back door around 4 pm. I live in Northwest Florida near the gulf. I have no clue what kind of bug this is and couldn’t find anything similar looking online.
Signature: -steven

Subject: Mantis??
Location: Southern Manatee county Florida
August 29, 2013 2:27 pm
Found this on the hood of my car yesterday and can’t find any thing like it online. I was wondering if anyone could identify it. Looks to me like a Mantis of some kind but I can get no closer than that. It was upside down and having trouble righting itself so I let it grab my fingers to get up. I was on my way to get my daughter from school so I was in a hurry and did not have time to take any more pix. It was sunny out and had not rained in a few days, found at 3pm.
Signature: R. Marmaro

Water Scorpion

Hi R. Marmaro,
Your mistaking this Water Scorpion is perfectly understandable. Though unrelated, both have raptorial front legs for capturing prey. Handle this Water Scorpion with care. The common name refers to the painful bite they can deliver if accidentally encountered or carelessly handled, though it does make an attractive Buggy Accessory. Though they are aquatic predators, Water Scorpions are capable of flying from one pond to another, which is especially helpful if their home dries out.

Subject: Moth that’s hanging around our chicken coop
Location: Van Nuys CA
August 30, 2013 5:38 am
Hi Bug Man,
We’ve got this moth that is increasing in numbers rapidly. I mostly see it hanging out around our chicken coop. That seems to be the coolest place during the day in our yard. Could this be the bug getting the new froth on all my recently plante speeches and nectarines?
Signature: Diana

Meal Moth

Dear Diana,
We quickly identified your Meal Moth, Pyralis farinalis, on the British Lepidoptera site which has excellent photos. The site indicates: ” Jun-Aug; stored grain; common in grain stores, barns etc throughout GB.” Since you live in California and not Great Britain, we wanted to also provide a link on BugGuide., but alas, there are no photos, though BugGuide does provide the information that it is found: “mainly in homes, barns, warehouses and other buildings where grain or processed grain products are stored” and that it is “a pest of stored grain and grain products throughout the world.” Charles Hogue, in his landmark book Insects of the Los Angeles Basin wrote: “The larvae are dirty white except for the dark brown head and first thoracic segment. They live in cases or tunnels of silk mixed with food debris; they prefer stale damp material, but all stored vegetable products are susceptible to their ravages.” You should check the grain you are feeding the chickens for the infestation. We don’t believe the presence of the larvae in the chicken meal will harm your hens which are probably gobbling up the extra protein with gusto. The adult Meal Moths do not feed on the grain. Only the larvae feed on the grain.

Subject: Can you identify this butterfly?
Location: North Alabama
August 29, 2013 10:11 pm
My seven-year-old daughter found this butterfly near our North Alabama home in early August. We’ve tried to identify it without success. We wish we had a picture of the wings folded, but the picture of open wings shows a lot of detail. Thanks for your help!
Signature: Curious Mom & Daughter

Decapitated Red Spotted Purple

Dear Curious Mom & Daughter,
This beautiful butterfly is a Red Spotted Purple, and that is a very easy identification for our staff, but we are really curious about its missing head. What decapitated the Red Spotted Purple and why? is what we are wondering. When we identify decapitated Longicorn heads, we can hypothesize that some predator ate the nutritious body and left the head, but we can’t come up with a reason why a predator would eat only the head of the butterfly and leave the rest of the body. Perhaps one of our readers can help solve this mystery.